ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: April 11, 2012

News Items in This Edition

The world’s first “electrified snail” has joined the menagerie of cockroaches, rats, rabbits and other animals previously implanted with biofuel cells that generate electricity — perhaps for future spy cameras, eavesdropping microphones and other electronics — from natural sugar in their bodies. Scientists are describing how their new biofuel cell worked for months in a…

With summer days at the beach on the minds of millions of winter-weary people, a new study provides health departments with information needed to determine when levels of disease-causing bacteria in beach sand could pose a risk to children and others who dig or play in the sand. The report appears in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology…

Scientists are reporting a key advance in efforts to develop a handheld device that could revolutionize the complete blood cell count (CBC), one of the most frequently performed blood tests used to diagnose and treat disease. In a report in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry, they describe adding a key feature to their “blood lab-on-a-chip” that allows it to count white…

Cradle of great ancient civilizations, superhighway for trade and transport, treasure-trove of biodiversity, the Mediterranean — the world’s best known sea — faces a sea of challenges in the 21st century, including climate change, pollution, tourism and overfishing. That’s the topic of the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), weekly…

Journalists’ Resources

News media registration for ACS’ 243rd National Meeting & Exposition in San Diego News media registration is now open for the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) 243rd National Meeting & Exposition in San Diego, March 25-29, 2012. The event will include more than 11,500 reports on new discoveries in medicine and health, food and nutrition, energy, the environment and other fields where chemistry plays a central role. One of the largest scientific conferences of 2012, the meeting will take place at the San Diego Convention Center and area hotels. View full news release about meeting registration.

Related Links

C&EN Video Spotlight: 3-D printing goes viral Sriram Subramaniam, Ph.D., keeps a curio collection of sorts on top of a file cabinet in his office. It's packed with three-dimensional replicas of viruses and proteins implicated in diseases, including influenza and HIV. They're made with a technology called 3-D printing, which makes 3-D objects from a digital image in a way that's akin to printing images on a piece of paper. The technology is already used in the medical and dental, footwear and jewelry industries. Subramaniam, a biophysicist, and his colleagues learn more about how diseases are transmitted with these "touchable science" tools at the newly-created Living Lab, a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health and instrument maker FEI. Watch Dr. Subramaniam show off some of the proteins and viruses his group has made.

Must-reads from C&EN: Updating the clothing that shields soldiers New textiles promise to make the protective suit for men and women in uniform — the joint service integrated suit technology (JSLIST) — more comfortable in hot, humid weather and more protective. For the full story, contact Michael Bernstein at m_bernstein@acs.org.

ACS Pressroom Blog The ACS Office of Public Affairs’ (OPA) pressroom blog highlights research from ACS’ 41 peer-reviewed journals and National Meetings.

Bytesize Science blog Educators and kids, put on your thinking caps: The American Chemical Society has a blog for Bytesize Science, a science podcast for kids of all ages.

ACS satellite pressroom: Daily news blasts on Twitter The satellite press room has become one of the most popular science news sites on Twitter. To get our news blasts and updates, create a free account at https://twitter.com/signup. Then visit http://twitter.com/ACSpressroom and click the ‘join’ button beneath the press room logo.

ACS Videos

The American Chemical Society encourages news organizations, museums, educational organizations, and other web sites to embed links to these videos.

Spellbound: How Kids Became Scientists The road to a Nobel Prize began for one scientist in elementary school when his father placed a sign on his bedroom door proclaiming him to be a “doctor.” This is just one of the many experiences that helped launch the careers of scientists from diverse backgrounds who are featured in a new ACS video series called Spellbound: How Kids Became Scientists.

Prized Science video series Prized Science: How the Science Behind ACS Awards Impacts Your Life video series is new for 2011! In the first episode, see how Ahmed Zewail, Ph.D., developed a technology that's paving the way for new medicines, new fuels and new materials that will give people longer, healthier, happier lives. Zewail is the winner of the 2011 Priestley Medal. The second episode features the work of David Craik, Ph.D., who made advances toward new drugs for treating health problems that affect millions of people around the world, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria and AIDS. Craik is the winner of the ACS 2011 Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry, sponsored by Merck Research Laboratories. More episodes will appear later in the year. The series is available at the Prized Science website and on DVD.

First Living, Dancing Periodic Table of the Elements That famous chart displaying the chemical elements that make up everything on Earth — a fixture on the walls of classrooms and labs — literally comes alive in this new video from the American Chemical Society (ACS). Chemists Can Dance! features scores of chemists wearing symbols representing the elements, kicking up their heels to the tune of an original rap song. It's all part of ACS' celebration of the International Year of Chemistry. Check out the fun and share the link.

A Day Without Chemistry Imagine a day without cars, electric lights, TV, telephones, safe food, and water, medicine, clothing, your house, and thousands of other familiar objects that make up modern society. Do it, and you are imagining a day in a world without chemistry. ACS explores that thought-provoking premise in a new high-definition video released as part of the celebration of the International Year of Chemistry. A Day Without Chemistry follows a person who sees more and more everyday necessities and conveniences disappear before his widening eyes.

Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions This special series of ACS podcasts focuses on some of the 21st Century’s most daunting challenges, and how chemists and other scientists are finding solutions. Subscribe at iTunes or listen and access other resources at the ACS web site www.acs.org/GlobalChallenges.

SciFinder® Podcasts Interested in healthful plant phytochemicals, nanotechnology, or green chemistry? Check out the SciFinder series of podcasts, which explore a vast array of current interest topics and new discoveries in the 21st century. The SciFinder podcasts are available in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese.

And Don’t Miss…

Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Web site on everyday chemicals Whether you want to learn more about caffeine, benzoyl peroxide (acne treatment), sodium chloride (table salt), or some other familiar chemical, CAS Common Chemistry can help. The new Web site provides non-chemists and others with useful information about everyday chemicals by searching either a chemical name or a corresponding CAS Registry Number. The site includes about 7,800 chemicals of general interest as well as all 118 elements from the Periodic Table, providing alternative names, molecular structures, a Wikipedia link, and other information.

Colors of Chemistry Photo Contest Seeks Entries Each year in the Colors of Chemistry calendar, CAS highlights remarkable chemistry from the CAS databases with exceptional photography from around the world. This year, they want to see your great photos in the Colors of Chemistry Photo Contest. Each month features a new theme for photographers to explore while on vacation, relaxing at home, or at work in the lab. For more information, visit the Colors of Chemistry website at colorsofchemistry.org.

Science Connections from CAS CAS - Science Connections is a series of articles that showcases the value of CAS databases in light of important general-interest science and technology news. Topics range from fruit flies to Nobel Prize winners, with the CAS - Science Connections series pointing to CAS databases for a more complete understanding of the latest news.

Note to Journalists and Other Viewers

This is the latest American Chemical Society (ACS) Office of Public Affairs Weekly PressPac with news from ACS’ 41 peer-reviewed journals and Chemical & Engineering News.

This information is intended for your personal use in news gathering and reporting and should not be distributed to others. Anyone using advance ACS Office of Public Affairs Weekly PressPac information for stocks or securities dealing may be guilty of insider trading under the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Please cite the individual journal, or the American Chemical Society, as the source of this information.

The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.